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oh400ex

Restoration | 08 Rancher 420 ES EFI

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Hello everyone!

 

I wanted to share a recent project and my experience with it.

 

The customer described the original problem as the bike would not start after being in water.

 

The more complete story is that after being exposed to water the starter begin to die and eventually stopped working entirely.

After tearing into the starter I found that the permanent magnets were powdered and it needed to be replaced.

 

The customer went cheap so on advice from Shade I ordered a replacement starter from DB Electrical and installed it today.

The unit from DB installed like a dream and bike starts right up!
The only drawback it that it's loud. It's the same as other aftermarket brands and much louder than the original starter but will likely quiet down with time.

 

Overall, I am super satisfied with the purchase and the customer is ecstatic they are able to start the bike without giving the Honda shop nearly 10x the money for a fix.

 

I will be buying from DB again in the future and would also recommend them as a great source of starters.

 

Other than the starter fix, I changed the filters and fluids, cleaned the bike, replaced some clips and sent it on its way!

My cleaning process is something I want to go into further detail in the future but the plastics always look great after a treatment.

 

Some of you hate the zip ties which is understandable but I love them. Customer was a fan of the look and it didn't cost them anything so that sealed the deal.

Same deal with the seat. Customer did not want to replace the seat cover so I will paint the foam just so it beads a little water and doesn't stand out so much.

I apologize for no before picture but just imagine it really dirty with faded black plastics and you got it!

 

Thank you for looking!

oh400ex

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i use D&B electrical alot, never got a loud starter from them ?, maybe you should see if one of the transfer gears has a bad tooth ?, maybe a bad one-way bearing ?. other than this..i've had great luck with their starters in the past.

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1 hour ago, shadetree said:

i use D&B electrical alot, never got a loud starter from them ?, maybe you should see if one of the transfer gears has a bad tooth ?, maybe a bad one-way bearing ?. other than this..i've had great luck with their starters in the past.

 

Definitely not any issues with the bike.

I ended up putting a few of the magnets back in the original starter and JB welding them in so I could test start it before the new one arrived.

 

The original starter is whisper quiet in comparison to the new one which is the same noise level as any previous aftermarket starter I have used.

The noise I am speaking about is a whine and does sound like a normal starter sound.

 

I would not be surprised to find out that some of the generic starters being sold on eBay are made by DB Electrical because they are very similar.

 

Don't get me wrong, it was a great fix and everyone involved is super pleased with it, just sounds different from the Honda branded one.

Thank you again for a great recommendation!

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Maybe it was quieter because it was worn out ..... If that start is loud and annoying , maybe suggest some sound and you won't hear it start or even run for that matter 

 

 

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I get used OEM starters, and if they need brushes I put brushes in them. 

 

I want to know your cleaning process.  My 08 Foreman project is down to the last few things needed, including a good cleaning.

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3 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Maybe it was quieter because it was worn out

 

This is the answer essentially. The customers are used to the sound of their original starter on a bike with 5K miles.

I would bet that brand new their starter was louder but also I think Honda gives their OEM starters a wear-in period as part of their manufacturing process.

So this unit is brand new with no factory wear-in compared to a factory worn-in starter with 5K miles worth of starts on it. 

 

1 hour ago, jeepwm69 said:

I get used OEM starters, and if they need brushes I put brushes in them. 

 

I want to know your cleaning process.  My 08 Foreman project is down to the last few things needed, including a good cleaning.

 

The original starter was in great condition minus the magnets. As I mentioned I was able to glue a few back in and get it to turn anyway but that's not a fix I want to stand behind. If I knew where to buy replacement permanent magnets or a center tube with magnets pre-installed it would have saved most of the old one. The brushes and motor were/are still in good shape.

 

Your project is looking awesome! It deserves to look on the outside as good as it is on the inside lol

 

Going to get further into it but a quick* version...
Initial cleaning is with old gas and a black hard plastic detail brush to cut any super greasy parts.

Next I use a cheap dish soap (usually Walmart's Dawn) through the pressure washer and coat any/everything in soapy water.

I do this twice or three times and just keep adding more soap with the foaming tip until it cuts most of the dirt off.

I use a fan tip to wash off the soap and a turbo nozzle on any areas that can handle it.

I then use a leaf blower and air hose to remove as much water as possible and do this several more times throughout the process.

I get a sprayer with soapy water and drill with ball brush attachment and get the rest of any spots that didn't come off with that combo.

Rinse and blower again and at this point the bike is beautiful but needs to be restored and protected.

If there are rust spots on a non-removable part I will wire brush, 91% alcohol and spray paint with shield.

Any painted engine parts that are removable are taken off and prepped with paint stripper. Once that's done I do the wire wheel on grinder to get anything else.

91% to remove residue then engine primer and paint (Usually 6 layers total)

The colored plastic parts I do a multi-part treatment on starting with a super fine sanding sponge wet sanding with the hose to remove haze. 

The next step is to use a buffing wheel or ball to polish the surface of the plastic back to factory shine.

Finally and on all black plastics I use a mix of boiled linseed oil, mineral spirits and 91% alcohol at a 2/4/1 ratio (not exact science but less is more with the boiled linseed as it is the active ingredient)

With that mix in a bucket and gloves on it use a microfiber cloth and coat the plastic with a liberal amount of the mixture.

Once I have coated the entire bike which usually takes a few minutes I take a short (10-15 min) break and come back to start buffing it out.

The buff out process is using one clean microfiber that is very slightly damp or dry to remove most of the reside.

Once that is done you get yet another clean microfiber and wipe all the surfaces again.

This will bring back the shine to any black plastic better than any treatment I have ever tried and done correctly leaves no sticky residue.

Whew, we are almost done 😄

The last step for me is a coating. I use Turtle Wax Hybrid Solution Ceramic Spray Coating.

It works so great you'll question every time you ever used anything else lol 

A great semi-permanent solution to bead water and protect from UV that can be sprayed all over the bike.

 

That got long quick. I do plan on going into it further next time I get a detail job on a dirty one.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Edit: Just wanted to add hand lotion on the grips and lemon pledge to black tires as those are two of my favorite tricks 😄

Edited by oh400ex

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Forgot to add what I do consider an essential step...

 

Before I start the bike, hook the battery back up or energize the system in any way it spends overnight with a dehumidifier in my small shed.

 

The dehumidifier will pull water from divots, connectors and wiring bundles helping to prevent a short.

It will also fully dry any finishes or coatings too.

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